LMC posts 9 months net of $4m

Manama, October 28, 2009

Liquidity Management Centre (LMC) posted a net profit of $3.53 million for the nine months ended September 30 this year, compared to $6.2 million during the same period last year.

Net profit for the third quarter of this year was at $1.52 million compared to $245,000 during the same period last year, LMC said.

Total operating income for the first nine months of this year was at $8.79 million compared to $11.27 million during the same period last year.

This operating result and its success was due to sound and well managed portfolio of sukuk, diversified investment approach and fees from professional services, LMC said. The prudent operating results were further enhanced by controlling operating expenses, it said.

LMC continues to embrace a conservative approach by impairment provisioning to certain investments held by the bank in spite of the improved outlook.

Due to redemption of instruments and prudent investment management, total assets decreased from $276.791 million at December 2008 to $266.872 million for the nine months ended September 30 this year.

Shareholders’ equity grew by 10.3 per cent since December last year.

The market has witnessed a very large correction and that the worst is over, especially for the GCC capital markets, LMC said.

The third quarter proved that LMC’s earlier views of the market were precise, providing it with further confidence to move forward, LMC added.

LMC continues to view this year as an opportunity even if it witnesses capital markets losing steam briefly. Many indicators are currently attesting to a relatively positive outlook for the GCC especially in medium term, it said.

Oil prices were firming back up to around $70 per barrel at its last interim results and are now hovering around $80 per barrel, LMC said.

This is producing further confidence in capital markets, improving government budget and spending while steering away from the once feared deflationary scenario for theGCC, LMC said.-TradeArabia News Service